Still Waters
by abby-sarajane
Summary: PostGame. Spoilers. Roxas isn't going to just let Axel go without a fight. Unfortunately, Sora gets pulled along for the ride down to the Underworld. RoxasAxel, mentions of RikuSora.
1. Verse 1 pt 1

After he found out the trick, taking over Sora was ridiculously easy. Roxas couldn't believe he hadn't figured it out earlier. 

He bored easily, trapped within Sora's mind and heart, and amused himself often by attempting to do little things. Things like, oh, "Let's make Sora scratch his nose", or "Let's see if we can get Sora to say "cock"."

He'd taken over completely quite by accident, and immediately pulled back, apologizing profusely, but remembering, quite clearly, how to do what he had just did. Sora, as per his usual, was accepted any and all apologies, and even offered to let Roxas borrow his body, if he wanted to, as long as Sora wasn't busy doing something.

Roxas remembered that, very, very clearly. One could say he committed it to memory.

He took over one morning, telling Sora he wanted to take a nice walk, and Sora didn't bother to argue, just settled back and enjoyed the 'ride', as it were.

He did have something to say when Roxas opened the Door to the Otherworld, and proceeded to hijack the gummi-ship "Highwind".

_//What are you _doing he cried, stunned that his other self would even _consider_ doing something so insane. _//I don't even pilot this without Donald or Goofy, or Chip and Dale for that matter! This is crazy!//_

"Shut up, Roxas muttered, sliding into the pilot's seat, staring at the half-familiar controls. "I know what I'm doing."

_//Liar,//_ Sora pointed out. _//You don't even know how to make the ship move.//_

"Shut up," Roxas repeated, scowling. "I do too know what I'm doing."

_//What are you trying to do, anyway? That's not it, you know. It's the red lever.//_

"I knew it was the red lever!" Roxas kicked the console, eyes narrowed. He carefully started flying the ship towards Hercules' world, eyes focused on the distant sphere.

_//You're joking. No one knows you here, you'd better let me take over-//_

"No," Roxas' voice was flat. "No, Sora, just shut up and let me do this."

_//And what is _this_, huh? Kidnapping me?//_ Sora sounded sulky- Roxas really couldn't blame him.

"I didn't mean to kidnap you. You're just along for the ride, ok? I need to get to the Underworld." Roxas fell silent, and Sora was silent too, calm, introspective.

_//Roxas… even if he is-//_

"I don't want to hear it," Roxas hissed, punching down on the throttle, the g-forces pressing him back into his chair. "I don't want to hear it, Sora, I know what I'm doing."

_//Roxas… Axel is-//_

"Shut _up_!" Roxas curled a hand to his forehead. Their unspoken rule was neither of them ever spoke Axel's name. In fact, neither of them ever brought up Number Eight, and Sora privately though that Roxas had never _dealt_ with his friend's death.

He was certainly dealing with it now, in probably the worst way possible. But Sora said nothing more, not wanting another violent reaction that could damage the ship- and them- and only offered quiet advice on piloting the ship all the way to the Coliseum.

Roxas was fidgety and impatient the entire way there. He all but crashed the gummi ship onto the world, twitching in his haste.

_//We can't fight in the underworld, you know,//_ Sora told him. _//We'll be easy prey for just about anything.//_

"Well, if you could stay behind and guard the ship, I'd let you," Roxas snapped, dusting himself off as he rose from his crouch. The cave mouth didn't _look_ like much, but it stank like death, like rot, and the faint sounds emanating from the depths did nothing to make him feel any better.

_//I wouldn't just abandon you. You're part of me.//_ Sora's stubborn streak was back with a vengeance, and Roxas could only shake his head in mild despair.

_I swear, that's going to get him killed someday._ He very, very slowly, and very carefully, approached the huge doors that served as the gate to the Underworld. "Ok," he said, just to hear a sound other than the odd, whistling wailing that came from behind the doors. "Here we go."

_//Roxas, I really don't want you to get hurt.//_ Sora's voice was calm, but there was definitely a nervous edge to it. _//You've never been in there…//_

"I have," Roxas said. "As you. Quit complaining, I'm going to do this whether you like it or not. I _have_ to find him. I have to at least… try."

Sora sighed, but didn't argue when Roxas raised a hand and carefully pushed the door open. It swung open far, far too easily, as if it was expecting them. _That isn't comforting._

He'd gone too far to turn around now. Taking a deep breath, he stepped through the gate. It swung shut and locked behind him, the sound low and ominous.

The weakness hit him instantly, like a blow to the gut. He dropped to one knee, shuddering briefly, eyes closing. "What-?"

_//Be careful, Roxas, please… you can't let your guard down in here, even for a minute…//_ Sora sounded worried, and Roxas couldn't blame him. He picked himself back up, summoning Oathkeeper and Oblivion both. They were heavy as boulders in his hands, and there was an odd ache in his muscles and joints, a feverish pain, the likes of which he'd only ever felt in Sora's memories; memories of when he'd had the flu for a week, nothing but vomiting and chills and bone aches, so ill his parents nearly hospitalized him. That was what this felt like, he realized, a flu, an illness, sapping ones' strength until they were dizzy and weak.

_If you can't run away, you can't fight, you can't leave…_

It was an insidious, genius plan. Brilliant in its simplicity.

_//Auron!//_

He nearly fell over, Sora's unexpected "shout" echoing in his ears. "What?" He snapped out loud, paranoidly looking around to see what he was talking about.

_//Auron, someone Donald and Goofy and I met down here! I bet if we find him, he can help us! But… we lost him after fighting Cerberus the first time, then after we fought Hades, he left. We'd have to leave the Underworld… Hey, maybe he has the medallion that'll let us fight in the Underworld, we should go…//_

"…Cerberus?"

_//Oh… um, a giant, three-headed-//_

A growling sound started from the yawning cavern in front of them. "Sora, please tell me it's easy to kill."

_//…dog. And no, it's immortal.//_

Roxas muttered an extremely complicated oath that he must have learned from Xigbar. "Great. What do I do?"

"When I fought it, I had the Medallion thing that gave you immunity to the Underworld…"

Roxas froze, slowly turning his head to one side. Standing next to him, arms crossed, scratching his head in thought, was Sora. "…Sora…"

"What? Huh? Whoa!" Sora jumped back, looking down at himself. "But- you're- I'm- what's this?"

"I have no idea," Roxas said, shaking his head. "I think-"

Another low, long growl sounded, and this time, the enormous tri-headed dog appeared before them.

"Did you have an easy time defeating it with the medallion?" Roxas moved away from Sora, biting the inside of his cheek as one head's set of blood-red eyes followed him.

"Not really," Sora rubbed his chin. "And I even had Goofy and Auron to help…"

"Shit," Roxas mused, hefting one Keyblade, never taking his eyes off of Cerberus.

"I could unlock the door," Sora offered, the Ultimate Keyblade appearing in his own hand. "We could get out."

Roxas was silent for a long moment. _What would Axel say? What would he want me to do? He'd probably say something stupid, like- like I don't even know, make some kind of crude joke about its heads… _He swallowed slowly, hands tightening on his Keyblades. He _wanted_ to know what Axel would say.

He had to know.

"I haven't even started yet," he said aloud, his voice hushed. "I can't give up without trying." He fell into an offensive position, eyes narrowed. "I'm not just going to give up, you stupid beast! So unless you want a fight, you'd better back off! I'm going to find my friend!"

"…I don't think he can understand you, Roxas," Sora said helpfully, before yelping and dodging away from the snapping jaws. "You know, if you'd listened to me and gone to the Coliseum first, we could have gotten the medallion."

"Don't start with "I told you so" yet, would you?" Roxas attacked the center head, dodging back away from the snapping jaws of the head on the left. "When we're sitting comfortably, being digested by dog stomach acid, _that's_ when you say it."

"If we're being digested, I won't be _able_ to tell you that, because we'll be dead," Sora pointed out, ducking and rolling to one side, avoiding the snarling jaws. "Therefore, I have to say it now."

"Shut up," Roxas said, without any real venom, jamming one keyblade into the jaws of the head on the right, breaking off a tooth with an audible _snap_. Cerberus _howled_, the sound making Sora drop his keyblade, clamping his hands over his ears. Roxas gritted his teeth, and he struck again, bashing the center head across the muzzle. The dog fell back a step, then another as Sora rose again, attacking the head on the left.

They prodded and poked the huge monster further and further down the tunnel, avoiding the snarling jaws and swipes of the huge paw. At one point, Sora got up behind it, beating mercilessly at the center head until it slumped, dragging the other two down with twin startled yelps. Roxas moved in, then, pouring all his strength into attacking the head on the right while it was down, and Sora joined him, attacking the head on the left.

Panting, exhausted already, they stepped back, staring at the twitching, snarling canine, who, despite their best efforts, was still struggling to get to its feet.

"Shit," Roxas said, and Sora merely nodded. "Maybe we should just run past the damn thing while we can."

"That sounds like a plan," Sora said, resting his hands on his knees. "I'll let you know when I can run."

Cerberus was beginning to show signs of coherent movement again, the center head starting to twitch and jerk and wake up. "I think now is good." Roxas grabbed Sora's wrist and sprinted around the monster. The head nearest to them rose, jaws snapping ineffectually inches away, then dropped uselessly.

They stumbled to a halt on the dog's other side, leaning against the wall of the tunnel beyond. "Light," Sora panted. "That was harder than I remember."

"You had that… damned medallion…" Roxas wheezed, doubled over. "You and your… damn loopholes…"

"I _told_ you…" Sora pointed out, jabbing a finger at him. "I _told_ you, you should have listened to me… I knew what I was doing… should have gone to see Phil and Hercules, but noooo, you said… we'll just go right there, you said…"

"Shut up," Roxas sighed, slowly straightening out of his crouch. "We should get moving. It's probably going to take a while to find him."

"Yeah, and I don't think Cerberus is going to be down for much longer…" Sora glanced back over his shoulder in the direction they'd come from. Grunts and howls could still be heard. "…man, I wish Donald and Goofy were here. Or Riku. Or the King. Or anyone."

"Gee, thanks, that makes me feel great." Roxas snorted, pulling away from the wall. "Come on, let's get going. I know I'm not worth much, but I'm going to make something go right for once. I'm not giving up."

"I never said you should," Sora murmured. "We just won't get any help from anyone else. Hercules can't help us, and neither can his friends or parents, you know? We're pretty much on our own."

"I got used to that," Roxas muttered. "Comes with being Nobody."

"You had Axel," Sora murmured, but looked aside. "Come on, let's go, if you're so eager." He dropped his head and started down the tunnel, Roxas at his side.

"You know, it was bad enough when there was only one of you. Now I have double the trouble to deal with."

Sora jerked to a halt, looking up slowly, very reluctantly. Roxas muttered a curse, eyes narrowing at the person he didn't recognize before him. "Who's this creep?"

Sora sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Great," he sighed, staring at the God before them. "It's Hades."


	2. Verse 1 pt 2

"Now, what could two bright, _living_ Keyblade Masters be doing in _my_ realm, huh? Did you get the sudden, irrepressible desire to fail miserably?" Hades was grinning. He _knew_ they were weakened, knew they had no chance whatsoever, especially not against _him_, and he was just _smug_. 

Sora was debating just what to say- _he_ knew that here, without Hercules, or Auron, or anyone but Roxas, they were absolutely no match for Hades. As Auron had said, this was _his_ Underworld, his realm, and they were intruding on it. Without a Hero, they were in real trouble.

Roxas really didn't care. "Get out of our way!" he stepped forwards, both Keyblades at the ready. "Or we'll go right through you!"

"He's a slow learner, isn't he?" Hades threw that remark at Sora, who had dropped his head into his hand and sighed. "Look. Kid. Booby. You have no chance, ok? None at all."

"I don't care," Roxas' eyes narrowed, and he didn't come out of an offensive position. "So either get out of our way or help us!"

"Help you? Now why would I want to help you?" Hades glanced over Roxas' shoulder. "You beat up my guard dog."

Roxas glanced behind him and sighed as he saw Cerberus pick himself up, shake himself all over and turn, growling, to face them. "Great."

"Thankfully, he's a tough boy," Hades continued, examining his nails. "Now, you were making demands, and I was denying them, right? Right. Is there anything else you wanna say, or should I just let him have you?"

"I'm _not leaving_," Roxas snarled, and Sora knew that tone, knew it far too well. "I came here to find my friend!"

"Oh, your friend, huh?" Hades tapped his chin. "Would this be the friend you left behind? Abandoned? Played around, had a little fun, then decided you had better things to do and scampered off, huh? Feeling a little guilty?"

"Shut _up_!" Roxas took a step forward, and Sora grabbed his arm, yanking his Nobody back before the blond exploded. "You _don't understand_, stop pretending like you do, just because you take care of _dead people_!"

"Oh, my so vehement. A little _too_ vehement. Guess I hit the nail on the head, huh?" The God smirked, looking smug. Before Roxas could explode again, he held up a hand. "Here's the deal, kiddies. I'm feeling pretty good today. So I'm going to let you give it a shot."

Sora blinked, then beamed. "Wow, really?"

Roxas, on the other hand, was much more wary. His eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms. "What's the catch?"

"Catch? There is no catch." Hades held up his hands. "I don't do catches. Well, actually I do, but that's not the point. This time, you are catch-free."

Roxas was clearly still skeptical. "Totally."

"Well, mostly," Hades steepled his fingers, eyes flicking from side to side briefly. "Almost completely. You have to _find_ him first. And it's a big Underworld."

"I can find him," Roxas shook his head. "I can."

"You're real sure of yourself, aren't you, kid?" Hades' eyes narrowed, hands dropping to his side. "All right, here's the other fun fact- the Heartless? Yeah, they're nothing compared to what else is hiding down there."

"We've fought _you_ before, haven't we?" Sora drawled, shouldering his Keyblade. "I think we've seen the scariest thing this place has to offer."

"I'm touched, really, really I am." Hades put a hand to his chest. "But you ain't seen nothing yet. By the way, there's a time limit. You can't spend more than forty-eight hours down here, you know. Or else you'll become permanent residents." He smirked, steepleing his fingers again. "You're really sure you want to do this? _Really_ sure."

"Yes," Roxas growled. "I know we'll win."

"Ok, if you say so. It's your funeral." Hades moved to the side, waving the door before them open. "Just so you know, because I probably won't be there when you crash, burn and die… I told you so." Smirking, the God vanished in a puff of flame and smoke.

"…has he always been that annoying?" Roxas lowered Oathkeeper and Oblivion.

"Yep," Sora nodded, nudging the door open a bit more with Fenrir. "Pretty much always. Are you sure you want to do this, Roxas? I mean, we still have time to go back and get the medallion… with that we have a much better chance against whatever's down there. I don't think Hades would lie to us about that…"

"He doesn't strike me as the totally honest type," Roxas muttered, shaking his head. "No, I don't want to waste anymore time. He knows we're here. He might decide to do something, something horrible."

"He can't lock us out, we've got _three_ Keyblades between us, we can open anything we want," Sora pointed out.

"I meant to Axel," Roxas said, facing away from Sora. His voice was quiet, as he looked into the dark hallway beyond the door. "He might move him, or hurt him, or make it so I'll never find him. Ever."

"Roxas…" Sora sighed, but couldn't argue. That sounded like exactly the sort of thing Hades would do. "All right… let's go, then…"

Roxas led the way, peering into the darkness of the cave ahead of them. "A light would be nice. Should've thought of that."

A scathing remark was on the tip of Sora's tongue when light flared to their left. Immediately, three Keyblades whistled through it, and the white puff of a soul exploded. The corridor was plunged into blackness again.

"Son of a bitch," Roxas said, and Sora wished he could see his expression. "I hate this place."

"I think those things are harmless," Sora finally said, when he trusted himself to speak. "Maybe next time we shouldn't attack them."

"You're just as guilty as I am," Roxas reminded him and, one Keyblade held out in front of him just in case, shuffled carefully on down the path.

Another soul-orb flared to life, then another, and another, and finally, the two of them could see well enough to relax a little. The walls were like the others Sora had seen- rough-hewn, dark grey stone, leaking with moisture. "I hate this place too," he said softly.

Roxas paused at a fork in the cavern. "All right, which way?"

"I don't have a map," Sora reminded him. "How am I supposed to know? It's not like he'll be labeled with a big neon sign."

Roxas shot him a dirty look. "Some help you are. I think I liked being along for the ride better. At least I didn't have to put up with your smart remarks."

"Hey, _I said_ this was a bad idea," Sora pointed a finger at him. "_I said_ we should go get help. But nooo, _you_ said we could do it, _you_ said-"

"Shut _up_," Roxas snarled, the sound low in his throat, and threw all of his weight into an attack on the wall on the left fork. A deep gouge in the stone remained, shining pale in the light of the soul-orbs. "We took the left fork," he said, pulling himself straight. "That way, we'll know which way we've gone, if we end up going in circles."

Sora nodded slowly, starting off down the indicated pathway. "Good idea." He bit his lip, turning back to face Roxas. "Look, I'm sorry… I'll stop saying "I told you so", ok?"

"No, you won't," Roxas sighed. "Because you're right. But I can't risk A- I can't risk it. I'm not turning around." Slowly, he glanced over at his other. "But if you want to leave…"

"No way," Sora shook his head, tone firm. "You wouldn't last ten minutes without me down here, that much is plain. Besides, I don't just leave my friends to suffer. And even if Axel isn't… really a friend, _you_ are. And he's a friend of yours. So he's kind of a friend by default. Therefore… I've got to help him too." Sora set his jaw stubbornly and nodded. "So let's go find him. Together, I know we can do it." He held out his hand.

Roxas slowly smiled, the barest upturn of his lips, and took his hand, shaking it once. "Together," he agreed, starting off down the tunnel. "…I was right, you know," he added, as they started on a steady, downward slope.

"About what?" Sora blinked at him, head tilting slightly.

"You do make a good Other," Roxas smiled at him over his shoulder, just as he had before, and continued down into the darkness.


	3. Verse 2

Roxas could feel himself growing weaker and weaker the longer they stayed in the Underworld. It was a decidedly horrifying feeling, for one who usually did not feel, and he did _not_ like it. Sora didn't either, it radiated off of him in waves, no matter how cheerful and upbeat he tried to appear. Every once in a while he'd stop, swing Fenrir a few times and then flex his arm, expression pained. 

Roxas was faring a little better, he figured; his joints only ached a little, his muscles twitched only on occasion.

"This must be what it's like to be old," Sora said, breaking the silence that had hung between them for at least an hour. "You know, when your joints start to stiffen, and your bones and muscles get weaker."

"I don't know if Nobodies age," Roxas said slowly. "I… I don't know, when I was part of the Organization, time didn't really seem to… _work_."

"Yeah, the World That Never Was had that kind of… weird effect," Sora agreed, rubbing his arms. "When Riku and I…" he trailed off, eyes dropping. "…we didn't tell Riku we left."

"He'll live," was Roxas' instinctual response. He _did not_ like Riku, nor did Riku particularly like him. It was difficult to beat the ever-living hell out of someone, then only to turn around and they beat the ever-living hell out of you, then thanks to them, you get your personality reversed, shoved in a virtual world, and played around with for only the Light knew how long, and still like said someone.

In other words, Sora might be able to do it. Roxas couldn't. Riku was someone Roxas could tolerate for Sora's sake, and that just barely.

But he could see, out of the corner of his eye, Sora flinch and sigh, shouldering his Keyblade and blow on one hand. "Yeah. Guess so. Doesn't have much other choice, does he?"

Roxas sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "Don't look at me like that. Sorry we didn't tell him. He'll be ok, though, he knows that sometimes we take off, that's that."

"Usually we tell him," Sora sighed. "But I'm sure he'll be ok. Maybe someone will figure out we're down here and tell him." Now he perked a little, some life returning to his eyes. "Maybe he'll go to Phil and get the Medallion for us."

_You're far too hopeful,_ Roxas wanted to say, but kept the thought to himself. Sora didn't need anymore of his smart remarks.

Sora lost the light after a while, and fell back into silence, trudging along next to Roxas.

Roxas began to think time worked differently here, too. They seemed to be walking forever, and nothing changed. The dark, grey walls remained the same, cold stone. They never ran across the arrow Roxas had carved into the wall.

Suddenly, Sora stopped, brow furrowed. "I… do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Roxas narrowed his eyes, trying to see ahead in the darkness, ears straining to pick up sound. Very faintly, he started to hear an odd sound, not quite a rumble, certainly nothing living, nothing that set any internal alarms off.

"It's water," Sora said slowly. "I know it, it's water…" He grabbed Roxas' wrist. "Come on, let's go see…" Before Roxas could say a single word of caution, Sora was yanking him on down the path.

It was, indeed, water. Not a large body of it by any stretch of the imagination; just a simple, clear spring that bubbled up and ran down the path, crossing it. There was no bridge.

Sora knelt by the stream, staring at it in fascination. "It's water… It's not black or foul or anything like the Styx… it's clean, clear water…"

"Don't touch it," Roxas grabbed his hand. "Just because it _looks_ good, doesn't mean it is. Remember where we are? We're in the _Underworld_. We can't eat or drink _anything_ here, Sora, or we'll never be able to leave! Remember the story Phil told you about Hades' wife?"

"No," Sora said, touching his dry lips. "I probably wasn't listening."

"At least you admit it," Roxas sighed.

"Just give me the short version, without all of Phil's finer points," Sora crossed his arms, though he kept shooting hungry glances at the water.

"Persephone," Roxas said slowly, putting the pieces together from Sora's memories. "Hades kidnapped her, kept her down here for half the year. Eventually, Zeus forced him to give her up, because her mother wouldn't let anything grow, but she'd already eaten something… some seeds or something. So she couldn't leave, but couldn't stay…"

"Oh, yeah, that part I remember," Sora waved a hand. "It's how winter came to be, right! She's here for six months, and above for six months. Gotcha." He paused, pressing a finger to his chin, and made a face. "…ugh. Married to Hades, how horrible would _that_ be?"

"Terrible, I'm sure," Roxas shook his head. "The point is, we _can't_ eat or drink anything from here."

"And we didn't bring anything in," Sora sighed. "Great."

"I have a potion or two," Roxas admitted. "But that's it. We can drink things we bring in, right?"

"I had a potion down here once," Sora shrugged. "I got out ok, so I'm going to assume yes."

"Ok, good. So two potions. So we each have one, right?" Roxas nodded. "That'll keep us going until we find him. We just have to wait until we need them."

"I'm _really thirsty_," Sora stared at the water. "Maybe I should drink it now?"

"No," and Roxas' tone held no room for argument. "We take these when we're too dehydrated to continue on, not until then." He ignored Sora's pout, and ensuing glare. "We should keep moving. I don't know how long we've been down here, and we don't have a lot of time to find Axel…"

"Roxas, we must have been walking for hours." Sora sat back, yawning. "I'm tired, and still really thirsty, and I think a few minutes of rest won't kill us."

The blond Nobody twitched, tapping his fingers restlessly on the stone. "I'm not tired, Sora. We need to keep moving."

"So go on without me," Sora grumbled, settling down on his side. "I need a five-minute nap."

"You're abandoning me?" Roxas' tone became incredulous. "You're just going to lie down here and give up?"

"Did I say that?" Sora sat up slowly. "I just need a break, Roxas. I'm not _like_ you. We're not the same. It's- it's not that I don't want to find Axel, I feel terrible about what happened to him. It's _my_ fault, and I want to find him to tell him I'm sorry too… But I'm not like you, I don't this- this _crazy_ drive that you do!"

"You would if it were Riku," Roxas accused. "And you'd attack me if I said I wanted to rest."

He knew he'd scored a point when Sora flinched, dropping his gaze. "Yeah, I probably would. But I'd let you rest, Roxas… I really would."

Roxas bit his lip, digging his nails into the palms of his hands. _Damn him. He's probably right. He's just selfless and stupid enough to do it…_ "All right, fine. Ten minutes."

"No more, no less," Sora muttered, settling back and curling up, closing his eyes. "Promise. Thanks, Roxas. You're the best Other ever."

Roxas sighed, rubbing his eyes. _I'm the only one left,_ he realized slowly, looking around. _If- if Axel is down here, doesn't that mean everyone else is, too? I don't- I don't know. I don't want to see them. I can't see them. It's going to be bad enough seeing _him_ again… I didn't even try to see him at the end…_

He'd heard Sora talking about a little voice that would sometimes speak up in the back of one's mind, telling them to snap out of self-pity, encourage them that something wasn't their fault, anything like that. Roxas had never heard that voice- usually Sora was the one to encourage him past something these days. In the old days, he hadn't cared- and Axel had usually been there as a distraction. There was nothing to say that Roxas _wasn't_ responsible for Axel's death. Sora claimed he was, but Roxas _knew_…

"_I wanted to see Roxas…"_

_You idiot! I wasn't worth dying for! Why?_

He closed his eyes, trying to picture Axel's face, trying to feel something other than _rage_ at the situation, trying to feel the sorrow he knew he had. He could see the hair, the eyes… that was all. He could almost hear Axel's voice, whispering across his mind.

Away from Sora, he was a Nobody and nothing else. He pressed a hand to his heart, teeth gritted. _And will I be like _this_ when I find him? _

_This was what he died for. This was what he wanted back. _This_ was what he loved._

_He didn't love. We can't love. We have no hearts._

_Tell that to Axel._

He opened his eyes to Destiny Islands.

He almost panicked before he realized that it was a hallucination, brought on by Sora. It had happened once or twice in the past, when he'd taken over Sora's body for one reason or another, and Sora had "dozed off" in the back of his mind.

Sora projected, strongly. He never did learn to lock it down, as Roxas had. Granted, he was the "dominant" personality, so much of what he did showed through, even when Roxas controlled their body. However, when he was asleep, it was even more a problem, because he had absolutely no conscious control over himself.

Roxas had learned, very quickly, not to borrow the body while Sora was sleeping and go for nice, moonlit walks on the beach. After the first screaming nightmare about Heartless, in which he'd fought hordes of monsters on the beach only to wake and find he'd been fighting nothing but air, he decided nighttime was a good time for _him_ to sleep as well.

So. The scene before him was nothing but a dream. Simply, easy to understand.

It was _warm_, though. Comfortably so. And sunny, and nice, and everything Sora enjoyed.

Sometimes, Roxas hated the good dreams just as much as the nightmares.

"Hey, Sora!" Roxas' attention was drawn away from the beach, back towards the island. As usual in these dreams, he was Roxas-as-Sora, and had no real control over his speech or actions. Only in the nightmare had he broken from this pattern, able to control Sora to the point where, instead of being paralyzed with fear and torn apart in the dream, he'd fought.

Sora had had those kinds of dreams before. Roxas had watched. There were some things even he wouldn't tolerate.

He felt himself smile at Riku, and mentally sighed. "Hey, Riku! Where's Kairi?"

It still felt so strange to have Sora's voice come from his throat. He couldn't even get used to it. He tried to ignore Riku going on about Kairi and their new project, and just hoped that this dream wouldn't turn out like the other one he'd experienced like this, where Sora had fallen asleep during class, and Roxas had taken over to keep him from getting in trouble, and Sora had had quite the embarrassing dream involving Riku, a definite lack of clothes and a sandbar on Destiny Islands. Sora hadn't been able to look him in the eye for weeks, and Roxas had never looked at Riku quite the same way.

He babbled on as Sora, grabbing Riku's arm and dragging him into the waves to hunt for fish. Riku was laughing, a far cry from the sober, stoic person he had become more often than not these days, or the angry, confused boy Roxas had first met and fought.

In this dream, Riku was _happy_, and, he realized, that made _Sora_ happy. It was always strange to experience happiness second-hand, and Roxas hadn't realized that he'd gotten enough control to bring a hand to his chest and rest it over his heart.

"Hey, everything ok?" Roxas looked up to see Riku's concerned expression. "You hurt? C'mon, I didn't hit you that hard earlier…"

"I'm fine," he smiled, trying to shrink back a bit more into Sora's subconscious. "Really. Dunno why I did that."

"Maybe it's because you love me," Riku joked, grinning and sitting down on the sand.

"Maybe I do," Sora retorted, and leaned in and kissed Riku rather messily.

_Light, even in his dreams, he's a bad kisser,_ Roxas thought to himself, shaking his head. _Oh, well, he'll get more practice, I'm sure._

Dream-Riku pulled away first, watching Roxas- watching _Sora_- with eyes that were a shade darker than before. "Sora…"

And Sora started babbling, trying to explain just what he'd meant by that, until Riku stopped him with another kiss. Roxas really, really wanted Sora to wake up.

_But I took that away from him,_ Roxas realized, watching Riku through Sora's eyes. _When I decided to leave to find Axel, I took him away from the ones he loved just as the one I love was taken away from me…_

That's why they were here. Not on Destiny Islands. Not in this paradise. In the _Underworld_. The Underworld, where anything could be attacking them at any minute… Where they only had forty-eight hours- even less now- to save Axel…

Something constricted in his throat, and he pulled away from Sora with all his strength. //_WAKE UP!//_

Riku vanished in a swirl of inky black. The Islands disintegrated in a shower of sparks, and Sora sat up, groaning and pressing a hand to his head. "Hnng?"

Roxas was pressed against the far wall of the cave, mere inches from falling in the stream. "_Damn_," he slid down the wall, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

"Why'd you wake me up?" Sora yawned, rubbing an eye. "I was having a great dream."

"You trapped me in it, like before," Roxas said, slowly standing again, looking around. "I woke you up, because _I_ remembered where we were. I figured we were under attack…"

Sora looked around, expression souring a bit more. "Yeah, Roxas. We're sure under attack. Look at all the Heartless, the Nobodies, the teeming hordes of undead zombies just waiting to tear us to shreds."

"Shut up," Roxas muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought- well, whatever."

"Can I go back to sleep?" Sora started to lie back down.

"_No_," Roxas said quickly. "I _don't_ want to experience anymore fantasies of yours, thanks. You can make out with Riku once we get home, as long as you let me have some time with Axel."

"Yeah, yeah. You're just mad because you don't get any," Sora grumbled, slowly pulling himself to his feet.

"You're always so grumpy when you first wake up," Roxas snorted. "It's a miracle Riku can even stand you."

"Shut up," Sora muttered, mimicking Roxas from seconds earlier and rubbing the back of his neck. "It's not just that."

"Sure," the Nobody drawled, carefully picking himself up. "Come on. I have no idea how long you were asleep for. It could have been ten minutes, it could have been ten hours. We need to get moving, and _now_. I don't trust Hades, and that could have been some kind of- of sleep spell for all we know."

"I didn't think of that," Sora bit his lip, scrambling to his feet. "I guess we should keep moving…" He gave a last look at the spring, sighing and rubbing his eyes. "I'm still thirsty."

"Don't start that again." Roxas was already taking a few steps back, then with a short running start, cleared the small ravine that the creek ran through. "C'mon. We're running behind now, and we don't even know how much time is left."

"Right." With an identical leap, Sora cleared the stream and followed Roxas down the tunnel, attributing his clearing head to gradually waking up as they moved.

Behind them, the spring _sighed_, and continued flowing down to the river Styx.


	4. Verse 3

They'd lost all track of time. Sora tried to count the seconds by his heartbeat, claiming that they were "really similar", but lost count and track somewhere around two thousand. Roxas couldn't do the math quickly enough in his head anyway. 

"Hey, did he mean we have forty-eight hours to find Axel, or forty-eight hours to find Axel and get out?" Sora was examining the walls. They'd finally changed to a reddish-brown stone, the light had also changed, becoming an odd, greenish glow.

Roxas stopped dead, expression glazing over slightly as he tried to remember what Hades had said. "…he didn't specify. Just said forty-eight hours."

"Loophole," Sora pointed at him, managing a grin. He wobbled a little on his feet, and took a moment to lean against the wall. "Oh, man. At least we haven't had to fight anything yet."

"Don't say that, now something will pop up that'll want to kill us," Roxas muttered, flexing his hands. "How do you feel?"

"Weak," the Keyblade Master slid down the wall, eyes closing. "Kinda like when I first woke up, only worse. It's way worse than the first time I was down here. Keeps getting worse the further down we go."

"Yeah, same here," Roxas admitted, cracking his shoulder with a wince. "I hate it."

"Can we have a potion yet?" Roxas didn't look at Sora, knew that the hopeful, eager expression on the boy's face would probably make him say "yes".

"No, I want to save them until after we find Axel," he turned away, stretching against the wall of the tunnel. "Come on. We're almost there, I'm sure of it. Things have changed, see? I can feel it in my bones, we're close."

"You said that hours ago, when the rocks first changed," Sora groaned. "And I feel something in _my_ bones too- _pain_. We don't even know how much time we have left… we might already be stuck here forever…"

"Stop complaining!" Roxas turned on him, eyes narrowed. "We're _not_ stuck here forever! I'm sure Hades would have popped up to gloat, if that were the case! So we've still got time! We're not going to get trapped here!"

"Calm down," the other held up his hands in a gesture of placation. "I didn't mean anything by it, I was just griping a bit, just letting off some steam…"

"Well, you didn't_have_ to come with me!" Roxas only felt even more irrationally angry at the fact that Sora was backpedaling. "You could have gone back to the ship after we fought Cerberus! I didn't_ask_ you to come along!"

Sora looked hurt and surprised at the sudden, seemingly-unprovoked attack. "Hey, hold on a minute here, I came with to help you, so you wouldn't get in over your head…"

"Well I didn't _ask_ you to," Roxas repeated. "I didn't _say_ that you should come with me, did I? No! I said if you _wanted_ to, you could have said no, you could have stayed home! But you _didn't_. So stop whining!"

"Stop _screaming_ at me, and maybe I will," Sora was getting angry now, too, a rare event in an occasion. "All you've done is push me today, all you've done is get angry at me for being _cautious_. I came here because I _wanted_ to, because you're my _Other_, and I care about you for some stupid reason I can't figure out! Obviously Axel did too, because he was willing to end up _here_ for eternity, just to see _you_ again! Maybe he really _was_ crazy!"

Roxas' hands were curling into fists, and without even realizing it, the heavy weights of Oathkeeper and Oblivion were in both hands. "You wanna say that again, _Sora_? If Axel's crazy, Riku should be committed on principle alone! How would you like that, huh? How would _you_ like to lose your best friend?"

"I _have_ lost him," Sora reminded him, Fenrir appearing in his own hand, eyes narrowed. "So don't try pulling that crap on me…"

"He wasn't _dead_," Roxas snarled, taking a step forward. "And don't pretend he was! Forget it! You're not even worth my time." He turned away, knowing that if he didn't, he was going to do something unbelievably stupid and unforgivable, like attack Sora again. He took two angry steps away, hearing Sora call his name once, before he fell.

Gravity flip-flopped twice, and he closed his eyes tightly. Whatever he was going to hit was going to _hurt_, and he knew that.

The world spun crazily for a moment, then righted itself. Gravity stalled, giving him an oddly weightless feeling, before settling. His feet gently touched earth.

…_that was weird._

He didn't really want to open his eyes. He had no idea where he was, and he couldn't hear Sora anymore.

Of course, maybe Sora was just as off-balance as he was at the moment, and was saying nothing.

He took a deep breath, let it out slow. "Sora?" He kept his voice to a whisper, waiting for an answer to open his eyes.

There was no answer. Now he was in a quandary. "_Sora_," he hissed a little louder. "I'm sorry about what I said, now _answer me_…"

Still nothing. Well, that answered his question; clearly Sora was not present. _Damn._ He swallowed, slowly letting his eyes crawl open.

Darkness. Nothingness. Everything he'd ever feared. Panic fear rose in his chest, clawed its way into his throat and tried to escape in a scream. He bit it back into a choked whimper, holding his hands out and calling for his Keyblades. Nothing happened. _No, no, _no_, not here, not weaponless, defenseless…_

He tried to take a step back, but did it matter if he moved here, in this nothingness, this lack of all things?

_This_ was the fate of a Nobody.

_This_ was what Axel had come to. Blackness, nothingness, no existence, just the slow, gradual madness that eternal dark would bring.

Roxas felt his throat closing again, cutting off the second scream that otherwise surely would have emerged. He tried for his weapons again, then again, casting his mind about for Sora, anything to fight the sheer _nothing_ around him.

He tried to pull air into his lungs, lungs that suddenly didn't seem to work as the horrible realization hit. _I'm dead. I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead Sora is dead too oh, Gods what did I do, what did I do what did I do to us…?_

It was the only thing that made sense, as long as Sora existed, some small part of Roxas lived, and if he was _here_ in this _nothing_, then Sora was dead. He didn't _remember_ dying, didn't seem like Sora had been in danger before, not at all. They'd just been yelling, been arguing, he'd tripped-

His mind was shutting down, running in ever-smaller circles, screaming at him alternatively to _do something_ and to just lay down and dissolve into the nothingness around him, to become part of it, to just end it quickly.

He tried once more for his weapons, and was rewarded with nothing but a tiny flicker of light in the darkness. His eyes focused on it immediately, tracked it, the barest hint of orange-yellow light.

It looked… familiar somehow.

The light flickered again, flared a little brighter, a little larger, dancing, dancing like-

-_Number Eight-_

-the light grew brighter, suddenly, as if Roxas' thoughts fed it, gave it strength and purpose-

-_The Flurry of Dancing Flames-_

-and he couldn't stop staring as the light- the _flame_- flared to the height of a man, crackling in the darkness, burning away the emptiness until the world around him was filled with fire-

-_Axel…_

The fire died, and before him stood the gaunt, pale Nobody. He was grinning ear-to-ear. He looked- exactly as Roxas had first seen him, unchanged, every inch of him down to his boots.

"Axel-" He tried to speak, tried to force out the words that kept getting stuck in the knot of no-longer-fear in his throat. "Axel, I-"

Still grinning, the Nobody raised a hand to his lips, miming for silence, and held out a hand.

Roxas took one slow step towards him, then another. The lump in his throat grew, all the words he'd had prepared gone in an instant. He'd had a whole speech ready- several, actually, all written to reflect however he'd feel when he finally found Axel. Now they were gone, completely and utterly gone, and he was left gaping, only able to drink the sight of his best friend- and more- in with a wonder he'd never felt before.

_Is this… how you felt, Axel? Almost like… you had a heart…_

Axel was still holding out his hand, still smiling, still waiting. _You always wait for me, Axel, don't you? And I just… ignored you… and… you died and…_ He took a step closer, then another, and another, until he was all but sprinting towards the older Nobody.

It seemed to take much longer to reach him than it should have. Perhaps it was the last vestiges of that strange darkness.

He threw his arms around Axel, squeezing him close. "I- I'm sorry, Axel, I'm sorry-" His fingers dug into leather and flesh, surely leaving finger-shaped bruises in his back. He smelled like _Axel_, like flame and ash and smoke and leather, exactly as he should. "I'm sorry, I _didn't know_, I couldn't see you, Sora, he-"

A gloved hand settled at the back of his head, stroking through his hair gently, soothingly. Roxas dug his fingers in a little more, desperate to prove to himself that he was _real_. "I'm sorry…"

_It makes sense… Axel died, I had to die to see him again… Damn Hades, damn him, it's not fair… Maybe Sora's ok, maybe he can still get out…_"You saved me from that," Roxas looked up at Axel, reaching to touch his cheek. "You're real. All this- this searching I've done, all the times I thought about you and _felt_ something- I know what you _meant_, Axel, I understand now. Sora- Sora's helped me understand. Sharing his heart- Axel, I _understand_, and you need- we need- to get out of here… I don't- I _won't_- leave you here. I won't leave you again. I _can't_ this time, Axel…"

Axel touched his cheek, and the smile softened, just a little. Roxas dropped his hand to cover Axel's. "Come on, let's go. We need to go, we don't have a lot of time. We can get out together, Axel. There's nothing we can't do together. You and I… and Sora, too."

He tried to take a step back, but Axel's arm dropped around his waist and tightened, pulling him closer. He swallowed hard. "Axel, _not here_. We don't have the time…" His eyes nearly rolled back in his head as warm lips brushed his neck, moving up to his ear. "A-A-Axel, I_mean_ it… We ha-have to go…"

His body wasn't interested in listening to him anymore than Axel apparently was. He started to slump, to yield and melt against him, into him, become part of him again. Sex as a Nobody had always been… odd, disjointed, too-long limbs and bodies tangling and getting in the way. It had also been so… empty and useless, more about dominance and submission than the pleasure of it. And love never even factored into the equation.

Sora hadn't even been able to grasp that concept. Of course, Sora was still a virgin, so Roxas wasn't too surprised. And Roxas had been without some kind of release for _far_ too long, with far too many arousing thoughts (like that damned dream) for him to really fight off Axel's advances.

"Axel…" he couldn't help that his voice was a breathy moan, his eyes closing, head tilting back so Axel's lips could better explore the column of his throat.

His silence was somewhat unnerving; Axel was never silent, not that Roxas could remember. He was usually talking, always making some kind of noise, whether it was a low purr of contentment, or whispered words against skin, he was always _noisy_. Roxas couldn't ever get him to shut up.

It was… very unnerving, but when Axel slid his hand down his back and slowly beneath the waistband of his pants, Roxas decided he didn't really, truly mind, and that this was going to be just fine.

Axel's lips trailed back up his throat as his hand massaged gently, lips brushing along his jaw. He pulled back to look down at Roxas, green eyes flickering for just a moment, lips curled up in a predatory smile. Roxas tangled a hand in the black coat, starting to pull him down, to close the gap between their lips in a kiss he'd been waiting for for far too long.

//_ROXAS!//_

Roxas jerked back just before their lips touched and started cursing, pressing a hand hard to his head. "What in the ever-living _hell_-"

//_ROXAS! Wake up! WAKE UP!//_

He twisted in Axel's arms. "Let me go, Axel! I told you not here, we need to get out of here first!" Pain throbbed between his eyes, the "shout" still ringing in his ears. "Come on, Axel, I mean it! Let go of me!"

The Nobody's arms only tightened around him, as the darkness surrounding them bled away, revealing the section of tunnel he and Sora had been arguing in. _What in-_

Sora was toe-to-toe- or tentacle- or something- with a towering mass of scales, teeth and tentacles. Several severed tentacles lay around him, but his movements were sluggish, exhausted, every parry and slice harder than the last.

"Sora!" Roxas struggled to get out of Axel's grip. "Let me go, damn you! What is _wrong_ with you! I thought you liked him! We need to save him!"

"Heh." The voice wasn't Axel's. The arms round him dissolved and floated away, then the rest of what he had thought was Axel.

_An _illusion_?! No!_ He grabbed for the tiny pieces, Sora flying out of his mind for a moment. "No! Dammit, _no_, not again!"

"Roxas!" He whirled to see the creature Sora was fighting pull away, emitting a high-pitched, piercing sound. Sora's expression screwed up into one of pain, one hand pressing to his head. "Shut up!"

Roxas was already moving towards Sora, Oathkeeper and Oblivion appearing in his hands, their familiar weights giving him some courage. He had crossed half the distance when the thing stopped screaming and lunged forward. Sora hit it in what Roxas assumed was the face, but three tentacles wrapped around him, lifting him into the air.

Sora swung at it fruitlessly, his momentum swinging him around. For a moment, Somebody's and Nobody's eyes met, and Roxas braced himself to leap for his Other.

"Don't look back," Sora said, quietly, audible in the sudden silence. Roxas didn't even stop to think about what he said, what it meant, or what other options he had. He lunged for Sora just as the thing threw itself backwards, plunging _through_ the rock of the floor, dragging Sora down with it. The hole- if there had even been one- was gone long before Roxas hit the stone.

"No!" In sudden, uncontrollable rage, Roxas slammed both Keyblades in the floor. "_No_! Sora!"

He'd hacked about two inches of solid stone out of the floor before he stopped, exhausted and numb, and dropped to his knees. "No," he repeated, numbly, eyes dull. In one moment, he'd lost everything. Axel hadn't been real. Sora was gone. Roxas was going to have to go back- if he could find his way back- and tell Riku that he had let Sora die because of his own selfish desires.

Riku would kill him.

_It's all I deserve._

"_Don't look back."_

Roxas set his jaw, slowly pulling himself to his feet. His muscles burned in agonized fatigue, joints creaking with every movement. He'd never been more tired in his life.

_I'm going to find Axel. If I find Axel, maybe I'll find Sora, too. And we'll all go back together._

_We'll all go back together._

He started on down the trail, jaw set in a firm, determined line. _I'm not giving them up._


	5. Verse 4

The end came sooner than Roxas had expected. The tunnel simply opened up into a large, open cave made of blood-red sandstone and illuminated by equally-red light. For a moment, he stared numbly, sinking to his knees, thinking it was a dead end. _All that. All that for this. For nothing. For more disappointment. Sora…_

He sat there for a few minutes, just staring at the wall, too numb and tired to care or feel anything. As his eyes adjusted to the brighter light, he realized, slowly, that there were cleverly-stained doors set into the rock. Their wood was nearly the same shade of red as the rock, and he pulled himself to his feet to examine them.

There were seven doors, each with a brass number on then. The numbering system made no sense whatsoever to Roxas, who stared up at them in confusion. Seventeen, twenty-three, four hundred eleven, fifty-six, eight, nine (nine looked as if it'd been opened before, oddly enough), and one thousand twelve.

_What the hell._ Roxas rubbed his eyes. He doubted he had time to search all the doors. _Eight. Eight. Sure, it's just simple enough to work._

He squared his shoulders, took a deep breath. _It's got to work._ Putting his hand on the door, he pushed it open, peering into the darkness inside. Biting his lip, he gathered his resolve, and stepped into the darkness.

The door shut, and the room lit up. Except that it was no longer a room at all. He stood in the middle of a forest at the height of autumn, sunlight pouring in through flame-colored leaves. He just stood, jaw dropping, staring around. The door was gone. Nothing marked its presence at all.

_This… what is this place?_

Birds chirped and flitted through the trees, the air was crisp and cool, but not cold, and every so often a gentle, cool breeze ruffled his hair and the leaves. It was _peaceful_. It wasn't at all what he'd expected.

_Was- was this what Axel's Somebody enjoyed?_ He took a step forward, looking around. The sheer _peace_ of this place was weighing on him, sapping at whatever remaining strength he had. The breeze seemed to whisper to him, encouraging him to just lay down, rest a bit, take a nap. _You need one_, the forest seemed to say. _Isn't it nice here? This is what eternal rest means, Roxas. Roxas. Wouldn't you like to rest here?_

The siren's song was extremely tempting, seductive, and he smothered a yawn, shaking his head. _No! I can't rest here… not yet. Not now. I need to find Axel, and Sora… then… then… someday…_

In the future, he hoped. In the distant future. He felt tired, but he wasn't about to give up. _I'm _here_, I'm close and now I can beat the odds and find him. Find them._

He wandered slowly, looking around, searching for a black and silver shape in the trees. "Axel?"

The sound was muffled, carried away by the wind. He bit his lip. "Axel!" he tried again, louder, but there was no reply. He rubbed his eyes, smothering a yawn. Looking around, he froze as something caught his eye.

At the base of a nearby tree, there was a flash of white. Eyes locked on it, he quickly started towards it, surprised at how sluggish and slow his movements were. He _wanted_ to run, wanted to sprint over to this clue, this hint of _something_, but he couldn't move any faster than a slow lope.

He tripped over something before he reached the patch of white. Slowly picking himself up, he blinked at Axel's face. "…Axel…"

Axel's face was utterly calm, utterly at peace. His eyes were closed, and his chest rose and fell very slowly, almost imperceptibly, the only evidence of it the slight shift and rustle of the leaves coating his chest. Nearly his entire body was covered in the red and golden-brown leaves of the autumnal forest around him. Only the bloodless flesh of his face was visible, the black marks under his eyes a stark contrast to the pale skin surrounding them. A golden leaf floated down as Roxas watched, and landed on his forehead. Roxas leaned over him, eyes wide. "Axel…?"

He received no response. Not even a flicker of an eyelash. Axel appeared to be deeply asleep. _Or comatose._

"Axel… Axel, wake up…" Roxas reached out to touch him, wanting to shake him, force him to open his eyes, those bright, green eyes and smile at him again. He wanted him to _say_ something.

Before his fingers could touch Axel's skin, an invisible force pushed him back. He slid through the damp leaves, smacking into the trunk of a fallen tree and his vision grayed out for a moment. Shaking the cobwebs from his eyes, he sat up slowly, pressing a hand to his forehead.

For a moment, he'd thought Axel had stood up. He stared at the black-cloaked figure before realizing that it wasn't Axel. The other's hood was up, and Axel was still on the ground, buried by leaves.

Roxas struggled to his feet, eyes fixed on the person (he assumed it was a person) hovering over Axel's prone body. "Who are you," he snapped, eyes narrowed.

The figure was silent, a simple, ordinary scythe held in one hand. It certainly wasn't Marluxia- nothing was pink. "I asked you a question!" Roxas was getting angry now. "I didn't come this far just to have someone like you hold me back!"

The cowled head shook slightly, and a thin, hissy sigh escaped. Other than that, there was no movement.

Roxas snarled, summoning both Keyblades. "If you don't back off, I'll _make_ you back off!"

"Are you stupid?"

The fact that the figure had actually _said_ something took Roxas by surprise. Scowling, he lowered his weapons. "No! But apparently _you_ are!"

The figure sighed again. "Kid… get out of here. Go home."

"No!" Roxas tightened his grip on his weapons. "Who are _you_ to tell me to get out of here? Who are _you_ to order _me_ around?"

"I'm Death," and Roxas could almost _hear_ the smirk in his voice. "And this guy? He's dead. You? You're not dead. Not yet. So scram."

"Hades told me I had a chance to bring him back!" Roxas shook his head. "I've found him! I'm going to bring him back with me! I deserve a second chance!"

"Hades? Hades is a putz." Death's tone was scathing. "That idiot keeps trumping my ace, and it's starting to seriously piss me off. He doesn't get to say who lives and who dies. Even I don't get to do that. This guy is dead. End of story, got it, kid?"

"My name is Roxas!" Roxas shook his fist at the cloaked man. "I didn't lose my Other and half kill myself to find him! I-"

"You. You notice there's a whole thread there?" Death's head cocked to one side. "You. Everything's about _you_. _You_ deserve a second chance. _You_ fought so hard for this. _You_ lost Sora."

Roxas closed his eyes tightly. "Shut up! I know it's my fault! It's all my stupid fault! But I'd gone that far, what, was I going to do? Turn back? Not a chance! I came to get him, because- because _he_ deserves a second chance too."

"To have him dance to your tune again?" Death's arms crossed.

Roxas swallowed and looked down. "I just want another chance. I'll fight you for him!"

Death laughed, the sound surprising normal, if a little creepy, because it _was_ Death. "You? Fight me? You're just a kid."

"I'm a Keyblade Master," Roxas reminded him, since he seemed to know everything anyway.

"Your Other's a Keyblade Master," Death chuckled. "You're a poor substitute."

Roxas saw red, fingers tightening on his Keyblades. "Say that again…"

"You're cute, though," Death chuckled in a fatherly way and reached out to pat his head. "Maybe I'll humor you. Give you the Orpheus treatment. I bet that's what Hades wanted anyway, that bastard. He loves mind games."

"The… Orpheus treatment?" Roxas frowned, blinking a little.

"Oh, you know. Orpheus? Eurydice? No, huh?" Death tapped a finger against the shaft of his scythe. "All right, then, this'll be interesting. The story goes, the guy's wife died, he came down, sang a sad song or two, and Hades let him take her back. But she had to walk behind him, and he couldn't look back."

"It's a sign of trust," Roxas said slowly. "To fight the urge to look that you're not being fooled."

"Yeah, sure, sorta." Death shifted his weight. "Are you going to say yes?"

"How do I know you're telling the truth, that he'll wake up and follow me?"

"I'll make you a deal. You get up topside without looking behind you, and you get Axel_and_ your Other back." Death's tone was silky smooth. "No strings attached, same old, same old, no alterations to mind or body."

Roxas looked around at the still, silent forest. _He's not awake to tell me no. He can't say he wants to stay. I just hope this whole place isn't what he wants._

"Ok," he finally said, looking up. "You've got a deal."

Death smirked, and gestured for Roxas to turn around. "Starting now, kiddo, you face forward. Good luck. You're gonna need it."

The door appeared before him and he took a deep breath. He didn't bother replying to Death, simply stepping through the door, into a different section of corridor, away from the original doors. This felt more familiar, and he realized, just by looking around (but carefully making sure not to look behind him) that he was just in front of Hades' chambers. He knew the way back from here.

Taking a deep breath, he started walking, keeping his eyes glued in front of him. _Don't look back. Damn, isn't that what Sora told me? For once the little twerp knew more than I did…_ He licked his lips and simply walked, trying not to focus on the echo of his footsteps- or were they someone else's footsteps?

Roxas was, by his very nature, a paranoid person. He was everything Sora wasn't: angry, untrusting, depending on himself, not friends. He urge to turn around and ensure that he wasn't being cheated clawed at the back of his mind. He dug his nails into the palms of his hands, managing to make himself focus. _Focus. Focus!_

He kept moving, and was suddenly struck with an idea. He hated it, loathed it, despised it, but it was a _good_ idea.

Damn Riku for being_smarter_ than he knew.

Roxas paused, tearing a strip out of his shirt and quickly tying the white cloth around his eyes. Pulling out both Keyblades, he held them to the walls, using them to guide himself down the tunnel.

_How that idiot fought like this, I've got no idea._

He turned right, then left, judging on his mental map of Sora's to guide himself through the Underworld's upper level. The echo of his footsteps grew louder and more tempting, until his nerves screamed at him to tear off the blindfold and look behind him.

_If Riku lived like this, I can, too._

The tunnel opened up into a cavern abruptly. Roxas slowly reached up and took off the blindfold. Cerberus growled down at him, a good twenty feet away, guarding the door out of the Underworld.

"You're not going to stop me," he told the three-headed dog, who merely growled at him. "I won't let you. So stand aside, let me walk outside, and look behind me."

"Now, you know, it's technically been more than forty-eight hours." Hades' was directly behind him. Roxas ruthlessly clamped down on every instinct he had, staring straight ahead of him. "So I could keep you here."

"Someone else gave me a better choice, you want to argue with him?" Roxas waited to glare at Hades until the God paced in front of him.

"Who, Death? Tch, Death is a putz."

"Funny," Roxas smirked. "He said the same thing about you."

Hades' head flared orange for a moment, then he calmed. "I'm not really surprised. He's never been good at obeying his elders and betters. Kind of like a certain kid I know."

Roxas remained facing the doors. "Get your pet out of my way, Hades. I played by your rules. Now we're playing by someone else's."

"Ohh, no you don't. My Underworld, my rules." Hades put an arm around his shoulders. "And I didn't say those two could leave."

Roxas _almost_ looked behind him, just to see. He flinched to one side, then quickly refocused his gaze on the doors. "Well, I say I can. So unless you want a fight…"

Hades chuckled. "A fight where you can't turn around? It'd be over in two seconds flat."

"It's still a fight. And I can too turn around." Roxas resolved to punch Riku in the face, then thank him for the idea once they returned to the Islands. He held up the blindfold. "See?"

Hades was silent for a long moment, and Roxas wished he could see his expression. "…you're a pretty resourceful little brat," he admitted, loathing clear in his voice. "All right, you win. This time. But you just remember, kid, one day, I'm gonna get my hands on you again. Don't think I won't. Cerberus! Down, boy! Come! Now get outta here, before I change my mind and decide you're actually _worth_ my time."

Roxas relaxed as Cerberus lowered heads and tail and slunk past him, rumbling. "Don't be a sore loser, Hades," he snorted, gathered the last of his strength and bolted for the door. He hit it with everything he had in him, shoving it open and scrambling out of the Underworld, slamming the door behind him. He leaned against the door, panting, then decided, just to be safe, to continue on up to the light of the Coliseum's entrance before turning around.

The minute he hit sunlight, he staggered and fell, unable to continue. _Did it work?_ He thought crazily, staring up at the blue sky. _Sora? Sora? Axel?_

_//You know, it's not healthy for you to just lay here.//_

If Roxas hadn't already been on the ground, he'd have fallen over in relief. "Sora," he mumbled, eyes closing. "Sora, I'm sorry."

_//I know, doofus. Stop apologizing. You made up for it.//_

He went limp, knowing that water and shelter were so close, mere feet away at the Coliseum, and he couldn't get the energy up to go to it. "Axel." He bit his lip, tasting blood as his lip split. "Axel…" His hands curled into weak fists, and he hit the path he lay on. "It's not fair… It's…"

_//I'm sorry, Roxas… I'm sorry. At least you're ok. And I'm ok… We made it out all right…//_

"Couldn't- couldn't think about going back to Riku without you." Roxas tried to sit up, but the world spun dizzily, and he fell back. "Are you in better shape than I am?"

_//Not much, no,//_ Sora sounded tired. _//It's kind of exhausting, being dead.//_

"I'm sure," Roxas sighed and closed his eyes. "We'll be found out here, right?"

_//Sooner or later, sure.//_

"Good." Roxas just relaxed, going completely limp.

"Kid! Oh, man, kid, what happened ta ya?"

Roxas groaned, opening his eyes to the merest of slits. The sun was blinding, and he could only see the silhouette of the man leaning over him. "Go 'way."

_//That's Phil,//_ Sora told him. _//Told you someone'd find us.//_

"Man, you're lucky your friend came and got us. What's your name again, pal?"

"Friend?" Roxas groaned as someone picked him up. "But-"

"Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"

Roxas' eyes rolled back in his head, and he blacked out.

A/N: The end. Over. Finish. Done. Endé.


	6. Epilogue

Roxas twisted and writhed, tangled in vines and grasping arms. Teeth sought his throat, claws cruelly dug into his chest, digging deeper, searching for his heart. He wanted to laugh, but the jaws had closed around his throat and the pain in his chest was too much-

Screaming, he struggled into control of their consciousness, tearing Sora out of the dream._Oh. Oh Gods._

_//S-sorry.//_ It was the barest whisper across his mind. _//I- I didn't mean-//_

_//Don't apologize,//_ he quickly insisted. _//Don't even start. Was- was that- what happened?//_

_//Sorta,//_ Sora "whispered", rubbing his arms. _//Wasn't quite as bad.//_

_//I'm the sorry one,//_ Roxas replied, curling back up in bed. _//It was my fault…//_

_//Hey, I offered to come with you. It's just as much my fault… I just want to know what happened to you… you just _stood_ there. It was kind of creepy.//_ Sora sounded a bit calmer now.

_//We'll talk about it later,//_ Roxas insisted. _//We should go back to sleep… I think it's nighttime.//_

_//And we can go home in the morning,//_ Sora agreed sleepily. _//So we can tell Riku what happened.//_

Roxas sighed, rolling over in the bed. _//Sure thing, Sora. Sure thing.//_ He stretched, his hand hitting warm, yielding flesh. _//Sora?//_

_//??Hmm??//_

_//…is that you?//_

_//…no?//_

Roxas opened his eyes, blinking sleep from them and trying to convince them to focus. His heart froze in his chest- and for once he really _knew_ what that felt like- as he realized who was lying next to him. "…Axel?"

He barely dared to hope that his eyes would open, that he would stir and wake as he hadn't in the forest. But with an annoyed, familiar groan, he yawned and opened his eyes, blinking blearily at Roxas. "Wha? Y'r awake?"

"I hope so," Roxas found himself saying, and hastened to cover the sappy thing he had just said, to recover his image. "I don't want to go through all that again. It was a pain in the ass."

Axel just chuckled, stretching too-long limbs and sitting up. "How're you feeling? Hurt at all?"

"A little. My lips hurt." Roxas touched them, wincing at feeling how cracked they still were.

"Want me to kiss 'em and make 'em better?" Axel was smirking, leaning in close, inches away from Roxas. "I can."

"You're real," Roxas said slowly, reaching out to put a hand on his chest. "You're you."

"I'm real and I'm me," Axel agreed, lips brushing Roxas' with every word. "Same old Axel you knew before. Still no heart, but… hey, I think I've got it right here…" His fingers touched Roxas' chest, smiling. "We can all share, right?"

"Right," Roxas agreed, and closed the miniscule gap between them, sealing his lips over Axel's.

Axel was the one to deepen the kiss, sliding his tongue past Roxas' lips and earning a faint groan from the younger Nobody. "Sharing is caring," he said as if he were quoting something, chuckling, moving to straddle Roxas, pinning his arms above his head.

"Hey, I didn't say you could do this," blue eyes narrowed in mock-annoyance, glared up at the redhead.

"You're right, but I march to the beat of my own drum these days, kid." Axel leaned in. "And you know what? You're going to learn to _love_ it."

"You always did hate rules…" Roxas closed his eyes, letting Axel's lips trail down his neck.

"Still do…" Axel was opening his shirt, just trailing fingers along his chest. "You've grown a bit, I think. If we can grow. That might be because of Sora, though."

Roxas blushed faintly, twisting a bit. "Admire later."

A slow grin spread over Axel's face. "Later… yeah, there _will_ be a later, won't there? So… I get to take my time with this…"

"If you tease me, I swear to everything holy that you _will_ regret it," Roxas began, trailing off into a moan as Axel bit down on a nipple.

"I'll do as I like, Roxas," and Axel had _that_ tone, that low, sultry purr that always turned Roxas into a useless pile of mush. "You know that."

Roxas just grumbled, groaning as Axel trailed his fingers down his chest. "Fine, fine…" He closed his eyes, and felt a brief touch at the back of his mind._//…what?//_

_//…what are you doing?//_

Roxas groaned, one hand going into Axel's hair as the elder Nobody licked his navel. _//What does it look like?//_

_//Oh, Light!//_ Sora sounded stunned. _//Are you- are you two going to have sex?//_

_//Don't look so surprised,//_ Roxas retorted. _//It wasn't like we'd never done this before. It's been a long time…//_

_//You can't! You can't have sex in my body! I haven't had sex yet!//_ Sora sounded panicked, and Roxas wanted to laugh.

_//Just because you're sixteen and haven't had sex yet,//_ Roxas pointed out, amused. _//Just sit back and enjoy the ride.//_

_//Roxas!//_ Sora sounded honestly, truly panicked at this point, and Roxas sighed, giving Axel's hair a hard yank. The redhead moaned, eyes flicking up to meet Roxas'.

"I love it when you play rough," he purred, eyes darkening to a rich emerald green. "That how you want it?"

"I'm being told we can't do it," Roxas said sourly, sitting up. "So quit it."

"No way," Axel's entire body slumped, and he pitched onto his side, looking at Roxas with wide, pleading eyes. "C'mon, Sora, please? It won't hurt a bit, Roxas knows…"

_//Make him stop looking at me like that!//_

Roxas rubbed his forehead. _//Ok, scaredy-cat, what _can_ we do?//_

_//…just… not sex…//_ Sora was blushing horribly, Roxas could feel it. _//Ok? So… whatever else, I guess. Just…//_

"Yeah, yeah, not sex," Roxas muttered, leaning down and kissing Axel again. "But anything else seems like fair game…"

"Does that mean you can't fuck me, either?" Axel made a disappointed sound as Roxas nodded. "Oh, well." He nuzzled to the younger Nobody's neck, purring. "Plenty of other things to do…"

Roxas couldn't help but chuckle a little, eyes closing as Axel returned to molesting his neck. "He's probably just jealous, because _he's_ too afraid to let Riku do anything like this. Not that that idiot would have any kind of idea what to do…"

Axel's only response was a low chuckle. Sora gave him a mental _thwack_ that was well worth it.

"Well…" Axel stretched out beside him, hand trailing over his chest in lazy, slow patterns. "If that's the way it works, I guess we'll just have to settle for something else…"

Roxas arched an eyebrow. "Something else. There isn't exactly anyone else for you to go to this time, you know. Saying 'I'll go play around with Demyx, then' doesn't exactly work anymore as a threat."

"I'll figure something else out," Axel said easily, eyes dancing. "I might not like Riku, but he's not bad to look at, and I'm sure I'm still real good at convincing…"

He fell back as Roxas surged forward, pinning him down quickly. "Don't you dare," the blond growled, eyes narrowed. "I won't let you. Sora might have all the fun he can imagine pining over Riku, but it pisses me off to no end. He's all 'I'm _sorry_ for what I did, Roxas', and 'I just wanted to see _Sora_ again, Roxas', whenever I see him. Then I kick his ass."

_//You try,//_ Sora's voice was faint, but amused, and Roxas gave him a mental kick in return.

"Well, you just wanted to see me again." Axel pointed out, toying with his hair a bit. "Sure, Riku's kind of an ass, yeah… and I'm still going to beat the hell out of him when I see him, if I can… but he really wasn't much different than you just were."

Roxas blinked, sitting down slowly, letting Axel sit up. "I'm not saying that's bad," the elder Nobody took his arm in a gentle grip. "I'm not. I'm really glad to be here, believe me. I'm just saying…"

"It's all right," Roxas shook his head, feeling a bit dizzy again. "I don't mind…" he carefully lay back down, sighing. "I really don't."

"Hey, it's ok." Axel settled back down next to him, arm settling around his waist. "Just relax, kid. I'm here, you're here, we've got time now. Plenty of time."

"Yeah." Roxas sighed, closing his eyes. "I… I wanted to say so many things when I found you… wanted to apologize for how I acted…"

"You weren't you," Axel shrugged. "Figured it out after the first time. DiZ screwed you up pretty good, didn't he? Thought so… but it worked out ok, I think. In the end."

"I watched you die." Roxas said, hushed. "I couldn't do anything. I'm sorry."

"…let's not mention that." Axel's expression was just a little haunted, just a little pale. "Change of subject."

Roxas looked at him quietly, then leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Right," he said softly. "Let's… go back to sleep. I think I can sleep now… It's still too early to get up."

"Sure thing, Roxas," Axel said, just to hear Roxas' name on his lips. "Sounds good."

Roxas smiled, and let one arm cover Axel's around his waist. _Maybe now, I'll have my own dreams, and not Sora's._

_I can deal with that._

--

A/N: Jesus. You people whine too goddamn much. Happy now? I liked how it ended, but whatever. I guess I must appease the masses. :: bows:: Enjoy.


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